Baked Zucchini Fries

I love Fried Zucchini! It's my favorite appetizer at most restaurants, but they dip theirs in a thick breading and  fry (so delicious!) So when I ran across this recipe on pinterest I just had to try it! It's baked instead of fried and I LOVE Panko crumbs... they stay crispy! Who needs to fry zucchini when you can do this! It's also a lot faster to bake your zucchini all at once than to do different batches of fried--LOVED this recipe. I used a bit more Parmesan cheese and salt from the original recipe, I posted the amounts I used. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Ingredients

• 1 lb. zucchini squash 
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning blend
• 1 large egg 

Instructions

1. Rinse and dry the zucchini. Cut the ends off and then cut each one into strips, approximately ⅓ inch thick.
2. Place the zucchini strips in a large zip top bag and add the flour and salt. Shake the bag to coat the zucchini in flour.

3. In a wide, shallow bowl combine the Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine. In a second wide, shallow bowl, whisk a raw egg with about 1 Tbsp of water until fairly smooth.

4. Begin to preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil and then place two wire cooling racks over top. One by one, take the flour coated zucchini strips and dip them in the egg and then the seasoned bread crumb mixture. Place the breaded zucchini on the wire cooling racks. The wire racks keep the zucchini up off of the baking sheet and allows hot air to circulate underneath, which will prevent soggy bottoms. Also make sure there is a small amount of space between each strip to allow circulation.

5.Once all of the zucchini strips are breaded, bake them for approximately 15 minutes or until they are a medium golden brown color. Cooking time will vary with the thickness of your zucchini strips, so keep a close eye. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce! I like marinara sauce or ranch dressing! enjoy!